My Father's War
by Catman99
Summary: Following Remus Lupin through the events of the First War.
1. Fenwick

-1"I've always wondered…what was it like the first time?"

September 18th 1977

It was long past midnight on Walton Way, East Croydon. When looking at the rows of incredibly scruffy and somewhat dilapidated houses that lined the road, one may take exception to one house where the immaculately pruned garden or the way that all the of the windows were in fact completely whole and not at all smashed or vandalised. The owner of the house hadn't been seen for the last few days, but the neighbours weren't that worried; the man often disappeared for weeks at a time.

There was a popping sound, and a tall figure with long, light-brown hair appeared under the lamp-light of Walton Way. He pulled what appeared to be a silver cigarette lighter out of his robes and held it up in the air, clicking it a couple of times. Once he'd clicked it, the street lamps along Walton Way started flickering into blackness. Looking satisfied, he put the cigarette lighter back into his robes again, and turned around to look at the perfect house with raised eyebrows. There were two more loud popping sounds, and two more men appeared in the twilight outside the house.

"Evening Prewett, Lupin," the first man said stiffly, nodding his shaggy head.

"I think it's more of a very early morning, don't you Edgar?" Fabian Prewett said with a small smile. Fabian was a fairly young man, in his mid-to-late twenties by the look of him, with an easy smile and a velvet waistcoat. The man, and to say man was to use the term lightly, next to him was one Remus John Lupin, who had only graduated from Hogwarts at the end of the previous term, and was looking rather frightened. The man named Edgar picked up on this, and gave his version of a comforting smile. It looked rather more like a grimace.

"This is your first Order business isn't it Lupin?" he said in what was obviously an attempt at casual conversation.

"Yes Mr. Bones," Lupin said nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets. Without his friends; James, Sirius and Peter, around him, he was close to panicking at the idea of being on a _real _Order mission. Of course, being as he was now of age and expected to show the responsibility of a full Order member, he made a valiant attempt at hiding it. Most importantly; he did not want to let Dumbledore down. Luckily for him, Fabian seemed to notice that he was floundering. He made a loud coughing sound.

"Sooo, that's Benjy's house? I always thought it would be more…rundown," he ventured. Edgar Bones cracked a small, genuine, smile and pulled his wand from beneath his robes, making a vague gesture at the well groomed house. Immediately whatever glamour had been put in place over the house disappeared and in place there was a house that had a large number of holes in it and an even larger number of boarded up windows. The grass was overgrown to the point that it reached up to the wizards' waist, and Remus could see what he hoped was a cat running through the undergrowth. Fabian looked between Benjy's house and the other houses on the street.

"It blends right in," he said blithely, starting to wade through the long grass. Edgar frowned, but chose to say nothing as he led the way to Benjy Fenwick's door, Lupin trailing along behind him warily. He and Fabian had their wands drawn, but kept low enough to hide it from any passing muggles who may take an interest in events. Edgar Bones knocked loudly on the door.

"So he lives alone then," Remus said to Fabian. The slightly older man shrugged.

"As far as I know. I dunno much about him to be honest. Think he had a thing with Arabella Figg," Fabian said.

"Who's that?" Remus asked, frowning. Fabian looked thoughtful for a second, then gave a little laugh.

"Of course, you weren't around back then. Gideon and me met her at one of Slughorn's Christmas parties. Dunno what she was doing there - she was a squib; anyway, she was one of Dumbledore's friends. I think she lives down in Surrey nowadays," he said thoughtfully. Remus nodded along, eager to get along with the slightly more reserved of the legendary Prewett Twins.

"So she and Benjy…?" he said. Fabian grinned.

"Yup. She was quite a looker back in the days. Or so I'm told. Anyway, I doubt that matters to poor old Fenwick. He's been trailing Lucius Malfoy for the past two months; a pleasant experience I'm sure," he said. Remus was aghast.

"_You _knew Malfoy?" he gasped. Lucius Malfoy had been a few years above Remus and his friends when they had first joined the school. He had often wandered around with a group of Slytherins that were now pretty much all confirmed Death Eaters. Sirius and James had made it their personal quest to make him rue the day he had ever so much as thought of the phrase "Blood Traitor". Between Bellatrix Black, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black, Regulus Black and Severus Snape, James and Sirius had their hands full. Still, they managed to handle it throughout their Hogwarts years. Fabian chuckled.

"Yeah, he joined, just as I was leaving. Stuck-up little brat he was too. Still, we had the last laugh," the Prewett twin said, smirking.

"What did you do?" Remus asked.

"We stuck him in a closet that would only appear every seventeen hours. I'm not sure that he ever quite knew what happened to him," he said, a hint of nostalgia over his Hogwarts days evident in his voice.

"Prewett, Lupin, stop your mother's meeting and get over here," Bones said with a hint of worry in his voice. Edgar Bones had known Benjy Fenwick for a very long time and had often worked with him on Order business. Fenwick had been best man at his wedding. He had his shaggy head up against the wooden door, obviously trying to listen for noises inside the house. Bones took a step back and raised his wand.

"He's not answering, so either he's not in, or he can't make the door," Bones said. Immediately all traces of humour were gone from either of their faces.

"_Homenum revelio,_" he whispered. There was a single flash from inside the house.

"Someone's in there," Remus said cautiously. Bones raised his wand and blasted the door inwards on itself. It was pitch black as the three of them stepped inside, and they simultaneously whispered _Lumos. _The glow from their wands managed to show stacks of cluttered newspapers and a few tables that looked like they had been overturned in some kind of struggle.

"Benjy?" Bones called. Fabian violently hushed him, bringing a finger to his lips and motioning towards what appeared to be the study. Now that he knew where to look, Remus also thought that he could hear a shuffling sound. Ever so slowly, the three of them crept onto either side of the door so that they could see into the room. There was a desk that was piled very high with all manner of parchments. And behind the desk, the three of them could clearly see someone searching for something.

"Stand up," Fabian ordered, wand trained on the searcher "Slowly,"

A blonde head flicked up, and Remus recognised it immediately. Lucius Malfoy; complete with ponytail and pretentious goatee, and the slightly stunned expression of someone who had just been proven wrong in his belief that he was completely infallible. His eyes flicked around, looking for an escape route.

"Lucius, we can do this easily," Fabian said "Or we can take you down by force,"

With a burst of strength that deeply surprised Remus, Malfoy threw the table over onto it's side and shoved it into the doorway.

"_Confringo!_" he shouted, causing the table to explode with a force that knocked the three members of the Order of the Phoenix onto their backs. They heard a crashing sound, that clearly signified Lucius Malfoy jumping through the window and out into the street below. Edgar Bones was up on his feet first, following the Death Eater through the path he had taken. Fabian Prewett staggered over to Remus, helping him up from the ground, swearing loudly.

"Go fetch me some firewhiskey from the kitchen would you?" he gasped, and Remus noticed that a large piece of wood was embedded in the side of his face. A great deal of blood was pouring from the wound, covering Fabian's hand as he tried to cover it.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he assured the young wizard "just get me the damned firewhiskey,"

Remus hurried into the kitchen, noticing more signs of a struggle as he went. An overturned chair here, a scorch mark there and once even a grand piano that looked like it had been hacked at with a sword. The kitchen door was hanging from it's hinges, and Remus suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable dread as he approached. He peered inside, and all his fears were immediately confirmed.

Benjy Fenwick had been tied to a chair. At least he assumed that it had been Benjy Fenwick; he had only met the man twice and his face was now unrecognisable. An interrogation, a brutal, horrific interrogation had taken place here. That must be the reason why Malfoy was still there when Fenwick had disappeared so many days ago. It looked like it had been _Diffindo_, not _Sectumsempra_; the cuts were too small and numerous for the darker magic. But instruments other than wands had been used, from the doorway he could see a bloody butcher's knife in the sink. What was left of Benjy could barely even be called human, the intense wounds disfiguring him beyond all recognition. Remus shuddered to think how long he'd been left like this before he finally bled out. In fact he felt as though he were about to throw up.

"Lupin! Where's that drink?" Fabian shouted from the other room. Remus opened his mouth to respond, but he thought he might throw up. He staggered into the study that had been ripped apart by Malfoy's exploding table.

"Fabian," he said weakly "I've found…oh god…there's only bits left,"

That was the point where the 17 year old wizard threw up all over the floor, much to his own disgust.

**AN****: So I got kind of bored by my other First War fic, so I started afresh. Hopefully I should continue with this one. If you've read it through, please review. I always love to hear criticism. As long as it's constructive…**


	2. Halloween

-1October 31st 1977

It had been over a month since Benjy Fenwick's death, but it still bore heavily on Lupin's thoughts. There'd been a funeral, of course, and many kind and wise words had been said by people that Remus had never met before. But then again, he supposed to himself, he didn't really know Benjy that well at all.

He was glad that it had been Benjy, whom he had not known and who everyone agreed was a bit funny, than one of his friends. Than James or Sirius, or Peter or Lily. And then he felt guilty for being thankful that someone was dead, let alone someone who he was supposed to work with to ensure the survival of the Wizarding World. These were confusing times.

Which was exactly why he wasn't in the mood for a party, despite what Sirius said. He was assured that a Halloween party was tradition, or something, though he'd never actually heard of it before. He was sitting in the corner with a couple of shots of firewhiskey littered around him.

"Do you always sit in the corner?" Peter Pettigrew asked as he emerged from the shadows with a bottle of butterbeer in hand.

"Yes Peter," Remus said, rolling his eyes "That is exactly what I always do,"

Peter sat down next to his friend on the floor, taking a sip of his drink and looking at an interesting stain on the floor.

"How long's Sirius been in this apartment?" he asked offhandedly, looking at the overturned furniture, spilt drinks, broken window, shattered door frame and what looked like a burnt out bin.

"About three days," Remus said, a small smile flickering across his lips. Peter made a noise that clearly meant 'typical', but the short young man was clearly grinning.

"You're still worried about this whole thing with Lucius Malfoy aren't you?" he asked, nudging his friend with his shoulder. Lupin raised an eyebrow. The Malfoy family was far too influential for the Order to do anything other than follow the youngest member at a distance. Word had it that Dumbledore had assigned Edgar Bones himself to the case, though the wizened Scotsman hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

Of course, Remus hadn't mentioned any of the guilt he felt over letting the goateed Death Eater getting away, because that would violate the Marauder's code of talking about their feelings.

"I guess you pick up on more than you let on," the shaggy-haired werewolf said to his friend. Peter shrugged.

"What can I say, I'm a regular super-spy," Peter smirked "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it man, the second Bones catches up with him he'll wipe the smirk of that little bastard's face,"

"It'd be helpful if we could actually catch him or his old man up to something illegal and find some, y'know, hard evidence," Remus said, resting up against the wall.

"You reckon old Abraxas is a Death Eater? I heard he's got the Dragon Pox so bad that he hardly ever leaves that sterile tomb he calls a manor," Peter said, laughing heartily as he took another swig of butterbeer.

"How many of those have you had?" Remus asked, genuinely curious "The alcohol content in them is decidedly…negligible,"

"Seventeen," Peter said proudly, flourishing his bottle triumphantly in the air. Remus nodded - Peter seemed to get gradually more with it the more alcohol was in his system; it gave some weight to the werewolf's theory that Wormtail was smarter than he let on.

"We need to get you a woman, Moony," the fourth Marauder declared loudly to the room. Luckily Sirius had the music turned up so high that no one heard them, to Remus' intense relief. He fixed his friend with a pointed look.

"Speak for yourself," he said pointedly. Peter raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I've got a girl around here somewhere. Nice muggle girl, thinks I'm an amateur magician," he said with what he thought was a cheeky grin.

"I'm quite happy without a woman in my life," Remus said dryly "Being single isn't an illness. I mean, look at Sirius,"

"Ah!" Peter said, waving a finger. Remus groaned, he had obviously walked into one of Wormtail's pet theories.

"Aha!" he said again "you see, what you have with Sirius, is being single with a fine selection of one night stands, which means he has an active sex life. You, Moony…well I'm currently trying to work out the last time you've even had sex,"

Remus gave his friend a withering glare.

"My personal life is personal," he muttered, taking another shot of firewhiskey from the many glasses around him.

"Hey, I'm just saying, I know a girl that's your type. Bookish…quiet if you will," Peter said, managing to pull another butterbeer out of nowhere.

"You look at me and you think bookish?" Remus asked. Peter considered this for a second.

"Yeah, that about sums you up in a word," he said happily.

That was the moment when Sirius entered the room. However, entered doesn't really cover it. He burst through the door that led to the kitchen, with the bottom of his long hair ablaze, shouting something or another as he did a circuit of the room before returning to the kitchen , flaming hair flying out behind him.

"He found an elf wine," Wormtail explained without being asked, nodding sagely. Lupin turned to his friend and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"From the turn of the century," he added. Remus smiled.

"And where was James during all of this?" the werewolf asked innocently

"I believe he has escorted Miss Evans home, after she had a couple of glasses of that wine," Peter said, smirking.

"A couple of glasses? How much of this stuff is there?" Lupin gasped incredulously, spraying his friend with a fine layer of firewhiskey.

"Apparently Sirius found an abandoned wine cellar in his Uncle Algie's place," Peter said "and if James were around I doubt there'd be fire involved. He's made a pact to keep Sirius alive to be best man at the wedding. Something about naming his first born child Elvendork,"

"Elvendork?" Remus asked with an air of despair. Peter nodded.

"I'm told it's unisex," he added. Remus sat back and looked at the stained carpeting thoughtfully.

"What's this girl's name?" he asked quietly. Peter jumped as though he'd forgotten the werewolf was there, and for a brief second he looked quite rodent-like.

"Who?"

"This girl who's my type," Remus said blankly. Peter paused for a second, then nodded.

"Oh, right. Mary, I think. Or Margaret. Melody? Definitely an M sound. Got a Scottish name," he said, his speech starting to slur as the alcohol finally caught up with him "I always like a nice Scottish girl,"

"Well you tell me when you can think straight," Remus said dryly as his friend slumped over onto his shoulder. He wondered whether Peter had been that drunk for their entire conversation and he'd just failed to notice. At that moment Mary McDonald came rushing into the room. In his slightly inebriated state, Remus noticed that he could almost see up her rather short skirt.

"Remus!" she shouted, snapping her fingers to get his attention. He blinked and looked up at her.

"Sorry?" he said, his face going an interesting shade of red. He was reminded vividly of the first time he'd gotten drunk, which involved a downright shameful incident with Molly Prewett. Of course she was married with children now, which made him feel far too old for his own good.

"I said that we need your help with Sirius," Mary said, grabbing his hand and pulling him upright. Peter slowly slid onto the floor.

"Oops!" the girl said and giggled. Remus frowned; he disliked giggling girls. Mary directed him into the kitchen, where Sirius was standing at an open window with his arms spread out, looking for all the world like he was about to take off. He was surrounded by a gaggle of onlookers, not all of which were trying to get him down.

"Sirius," he shouted, making everyone jump "what the hell are you doing?"

The shaggy haired boy turned his head and grinned sloppily. Remus noted that the back of his shirt was slightly singed.

"Well first Fabian put me out," he said, gesturing to the Prewett boy "then I worked out that I'm indirectly related to Icarus, which of course means that I should in theory be able to fly like a bird,"

Remus stepped a bit closer to his friend, so that he could whisper in his ear.

"You do realise that Icarus was the one who couldn't fly and died, don't you?" the werewolf hissed urgently. Sirius froze, looked pensive for a second then turned his head again.

"Bollocks, really?" he asked. Remus nodded earnestly. The shaggy-haired boy put his arms down but turned his head to look out into the night's sky. One could hardly see the moon because of the sheer smoke that was put out by the London cityscape.

"I'm scared Moony mate," he said in the soft tones of the drunk who knows that they're drunk and doesn't want to embarrass himself too much any more.

"Well maybe if you got down from the window," Lupin said doggedly. Sirius fixed him with very grey eyes.

"You know damn well that's not what I mean," he said in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, I know," Remus said, equally as quietly.


End file.
